To be concurrently submitted to the secretariat of the ISO/IEC JTC1 with a copy to the ISO
Central Secretariat.

Title Assessment of
cultural and linguistic adaptability in software and hardware products – Test
method

Scope :

The project will present a test method to evaluate the actual degree
to which a given IT-based product or service
can meet cultural and
linguistic requirements while being able to interchange data on a world-wide
basis when appropriate.

Purpose and justification –

A successful product or service requires satisfying the needs of users
including needs of a cultural and
linguistic nature.

Being able to meet requirements of a legal and regulatory nature is a
world-wide challenge for any product or services, now including those which
are IT-based. Without it, bad
surprises may occur in the selling of software products not complying to the
cultural and linguistic adaptability requirements in different jurisdictions.

This international standard will assist in the clarification of marketplace rules for everybody and bring an objective assessment method to
measure cultural and linguistic adaptability.

It is also a tool for
comparing competing products and hence will help in making buying choices.

Conformance will be to the method and not to the evaluation checklist
being provided by the method. The results in the use of the method will be
evaluation marks to be used for product comparisons. It is expected that with
the use of such a method, typically no product will be assigned a null mark,
and typically none will also be able to achieve perfection, so that cultural
and linguistic adaptability conformance will be progressively defined in this
way by the market and hence will constitute a moving – and evolving – target
by nature.

Programme of work

If the proposed new work item is approved , which of the following
document(s) is (are) expected to be developed?

_____ a single International Standard more than one International
Standard (expected number: ........ )

__X__ a multi-part International
Standard consisting of 5 parts: Part 1 - Principles (Definition and
requirements), Part 2 - CLAUI evaluation of software, Part 3 – CLAUI
evaluation of hardware, Part 4 - CLAUI evaluation of documentation, Part 5 -
CLAUI evaluation of services (e.g. Internet services). The standard will be
developed in English and in French and should ideally be published as a
bilingual standard rather than in two language versions.

_____ an amendment or amendments to the following International
Standard(s) ....................................

Document JTC 1 N5296: Material identified by the Business team on electronic commerce (BT-EC)

Work under development : ISO/IEC
18038 “Identification and Mapping of
Various Categories of Jurisdictional Domains”.

Document JTC1 N5629: Recommendations of the
Paris December 1998 CLAUI meeting (in particular recommendations on
unambiguous culturally-neutral identifiers, character coding directions,
multilingual provisions in meta-data elements, and so on) as amended by the
1999 Rio de Janeiro JTC1 Plenary.

An example of a cultural and linguistic adaptability requirement test
method already in use can be found in document SC35N0201
Betel -grille
d'evaluation.pdf (French language
document, not available in English). This document could be used as a
discussion basis and adapted for use in a global context, taking care about
requirement categories from different cultures and languages.

Co-operation and liaison Co-operation with
JTC1/SC22/WG20, with JTC1/SC2, with JTC1/SC32 and with JTC1/SC7 is initially
envisaged.

Preparatory work offered
with target date(s) Current
targets: First drafts to be submitted before 2001-05-01. CD registration and
ballot 2001-11, FCD ballot 2002-11, FDIS ballot 2003-05. Alain LaBonté, from Gouvernement du Québec, is volunteering to serve
as project editor.

Signature:

Will the service of a maintenance agency or registration authority be
required? No.

Are there any known requirements for coding? No.

Are there any known requirements for cultural and linguistic
adaptability? Yes. This standard
directly involves cultural and linguistic adaptability.

Does the proposed standard concern known patented items? No.

Comments and recommendations
of the JTC 1 Secretariat - attach a separate page as an annex, if necessary

Comments with respect to the
proposal in general, and recommendations thereon:
It is proposed to assign this new item to JTC 1/SC 35

Voting on the
proposal –

According to a current JTC1 trial, this NP will
be sent to SC35 member bodies for a 4-month letter ballot and be sent
simultaneously to JTC1 secretariat for information. The vote is to be held at
the JTC1 level only if there are objections at this level after submission to
the JTC1 Secretariat. According to the year 2000 Tromsø JTC1 Plenary resolution
24, JTC1 National Bodies are reminded that it is still their responsibility to
review and check each NP especially on its scope and assignment,
inconsistencies or overlaps with other JTC 1 products, and market relevance).

Date of circulation:
2000-MM-DD

Closing date for voting: 2001-MM-DD

Signature of JTC 1
Secretary:
Lisa A. Rajchel

NEW WORK ITEM PROPOSAL –
PROJECT ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Criterion

Validity

Explanation

A Business Requirement

A.1
Market Requirement

Essential
_X__
Desirable ___
Supportive ___

[see Scope]

An international standard is essential to diminish bad surprises in
global software trade

A.2
Regulatory Context

Essential
_X_
Desirable ___
Supportive ___
Not Relevant ___

Many jurisdictions already have legal and regulatory requirements
about cultural and linguistic adaptability

JTC1 and ISO I.S.’s concerned with CLAUI will be referenced (to begin
with some produced by JTC1/SC2, SC22,
SC35 and SC32)

C. Technical Status

C.1
Mature Technology

Yes _X_
No___

C.2
Prospective Technology

Yes ___
No_X_

C.3
Models/Tools

Yes _X__
No___

D. Conformity Assessment and Interoperability

D.1
Conformity Assessment

Yes ___
No_X__

The standard will be a method used to evaluate products and services
from a cultural and linguistic adaptability perspective. Conformity will be
with the method, not with the evaluation resulting from the use of the method

D.2
Interoperability

Yes _X__
No___

One of the goals of the standard
is to assure cultural and linguistic adaptability while maintaining
interoperability

E. Other Justification

Notes to Proforma

A. Business Relevance. That which identifies market place
relevance in terms of what problem is being solved and or need being addressed.

A.1. Market
Requirement. When submitting a NP, the proposer shall identify the nature of
the Market Requirement, assessing the extent to which it is essential,
desirable or merely supportive of some other project.

A.2
Technical Regulation. If a Regulatory requirement is deemed to exist - e.g. for
an area of public concern e.g. Information Security, Data protection,
potentially leading to regulatory/public interest action based on the use of
this voluntary international standard - the proposer shall identify this here.

B. Related Work. Aspects of the relationship of this NP to
other areas of standardization work shall be identified in this section.

B.1
Competition/Maintenance. If this NP is concerned with completing or maintaining
existing standards, those concerned shall be identified here.

B.2
External Commitment. Groups, bodies, or fora external to JTC1 to which a
commitment has been made by JTC for cooperation and or collaboration on this NP
shall be identified here.

B.3
External Std/Specification. If other activities creating standards or
specifications in this topic area are known to exist or be planned, and which
might be available to JTC1 as PAS, they shall be identified here.

C. Technical Status. The proposer shall indicate here an
assessment of the extent to which the proposed standard is supported by current
technology.

C.1 Mature
Technology. Indicate here the extent to which the technology is reasonably
stable and ripe for standardization.

C.2
Prospective Technology. If the NP is anticipatory in nature based on expected
or forecasted need, this shall be indicated here.

C.3
Models/Tools. If the NP relates to the creation of supportive reference models
or tools, this shall be indicated here.

D. Any
other aspects of background information justifying this NP shall be indicated
here.

D. Conformity Assessment and Interoperability

D.1
Indicate here if Conformity Assessment is relevant to your project. If so,
indicate how it is addressed in your project plan.

D.2
Indicate here if Interoperability is relevant to your project. If so, indicate
how it is addressed in your project plan.